Thursday, March 26, 2015

Cloak and Dagger

By Julo (Own work) [Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons

Last night, I had a dream about international espionage, murder, and a conspiracy to cover it up. At the office. Makes the real issues and drama that we experience in the workplace so much more mundane, doesn't it?

In the end (right before I woke up), the plot had started to unravel, just like it would in a spy novel. Lies started to be exposed and the liars who told them. Gossip spread around the office about the truth coming out. The entire cover-up began fading away as more and more facts surfaced. Those responsible became more and more nervous that they would soon be found out.

All in all, it was a pretty intense dream. More intense than workplace situations that I find myself in on a normal daily basis. The dream highlighted something for me, though: the need to conduct yourself in the workplace as an open and honest individual and to operate with integrity. That doesn't mean you have to be an open book. It doesn't mean that there aren't pieces of information, upcoming events, business practices or strategies that the entirety of the corporation does not need to know about. It doesn't mean sharing details that are inappropriate for the audience. But what it does mean is doing everything from the right place. Having an honest and positive intent towards your actions. Being able to learn from your mistakes rather than hide them or pass them on others. Recognizing, as a manager, that ultimately the actions of your employees are your responsibility.

We all make mistakes. But those mistakes are easier to accept within an organization if two things are true: First, that the intent was good, even if the execution was flawed. And second, if the person who made the mistake can admit it and move on from it.

What other traits or examples do you find demonstrates a person's integrity?